Great Falls elementary schools redistricting recommendations go to school board

Great Falls Public Schools hosted its first public forum to discuss proposed options for a boundary adjustment. The adjustment has many parents concerned about the implications of their children changing elementary schools.

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Tammy Lacey, superintendent of Great Falls Public Schools, leads the students of Roosevelt Elementary School in a "thank you" cheer to the construction workers building Giant Springs Elementary School, Thursday, during a "topping out" ceremony celebrating the final steel beam being fitted to the new building.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/RION SANDERS)Buy Photo

After months of meetings, public input and editing boundary lines, the Boundary Adjustment committee submitted its final redistricting recommendations for Great Falls Public Schools to the school board on Monday evening.

The committee was making adjustments up until the end with final revisions and adjustments being made during its last meeting on Jan. 30.

"The committee did a very good job evaluating their objectives and criteria to develop a recommendation that they feel is best for all students in the district," Matthew Cropper, president of Cropper GIS, said. "They also really listened to the public and did as much as they could to listen to their input without deviating from their objectives."

During the committee's last meeting, adjustments were made to the final recommendation based on community input surrounding transportation efficiency, Cropper continued. The lines around the northern-most boundary of Sacagawea Elementary were extended north and the Giant Springs Elementary area was extended to 14th St. to maximize the efficiency of school buses. Students living in Black Eagle attend Valley View Elementary in the final recommendation.

"The adjustments don't send anybody across the river," Cropper said. "We thought that was important based on public input and transportation."

The district is already putting together plans on how it will implement the new changes once they are accepted.

"I’m going to say right up front: Bare with us," Assistant Superintendent Ruth Uecker said. "This is going to be complicated."

Within a day or two of the board's final vote, Uecker says the district will get notices out to families in the affected areas. These notes will outline the new area and new school and will ask parents and guardians to mark if they will have their child attend the new school or if they would like a permissive transfer.

The district's permissive transfer process will remain the same. Once the district receives the returned forms from the families in the affected areas, Ucker said she will sit down with each of the district's principals and determine if they can accept permissive transfers.

Uecker said the district understands the varying factors that go into the request for a permissive transfer, and it intends to grant as many as possible as space allows.

As is current policy, families who are granted permissive transfers are responsible for their children's transportation to and from school. These students will not be permitted to use the busses.

The committee's final recommendation remains a draft until the school board takes official action on March 12. Until then, the board has the power to further edit and make adjustments as it sees fit.

Parents and community members with any questions or concerns are asked to reach out to their community principal or submit their comments online under the boundary adjustment section of the Community tab on the GFPS website. This link will continue to be open for comment until the board makes a final decision.